Dacoits rape woman in train toilet

KOLKATA: A girl in her twenties was allegedly gangraped by dacoits on the New Delhi-Alipurduar Mahananda Link Express near Siliguri on Thursday evening. The girl, travelling with two friends, had resisted when the dacoits tried to rob passengers. The furious dacoits then dragged her to a toilet and raped her. They jumped off the train near Malbazar station after looting cash, jewellery and valuables worth Rs 1 lakh. A resident of Rangamati tea estate, the girl is employed with a private firm in New Delhi and had boarded the train from the Capital with two friends. The train was more than three hours late when it reached Siliguri around 5.30 pm. Most of the passengers got off there, leaving only the girl, her friends and a few others in the general compartment. "The four youths boarded the Mahananda Link Express from Siliguri. Minutes after the train left the station, they whipped out firearms and ordered the few passengers in the compartment to hand over their valuables. The others did so immediately, but the girl and her two male friends resisted. The gang then beat up the boys, dragged the girl to the toilet and raped her," said ADG (rail) Dilip Mitra. When the train slowed down near Malbazar station, the youths jumped off the compartment and vanished under the cover of darkness. Police confirmed that the gang looted cash, jewellery, cellphones and other valuables worth Rs 1 lakh from the passengers. At Malbazar, the girl lodged a complaint with the OC, Government Railway Police. Superintendent of railway police, Siliguri, and the Jalpaiguri SP rushed to Malbazar station and are interrogating the girl and her friends. The DIG( rail) has also set off for Malbazar. A manhunt has been launched for the rapists. In another incident, dacoits struck the Kalka-Howrah Mail (2312 DN) near Phaphoond railway station in Kanpur on Thursday and injured over a dozen passengers before escaping with cash and valuables worth thousands. Passengers managed to nab one of the robbers, who was thrashed before being handed over to the GRP, Kanpur Central. According to reports, six youths carrying country-made pistols boarded the general compartment of the train as it reached Phaphoond railway station around 4.00 pm on Thursday and started looting passengers. The robbers also misbehaved with women.